The Leprechaun Thief
by JinxedCobra
Summary: Kerry Branigan could be called the worst thief ever, but she's just unlucky. Especially when it comes to the Leverage crew. OC centric, no pairings. One-shot.


**Leprechaun Thief**

**Disclaimer****: **I don't own Leverage, only Kerry.

**Author's Note: **This was the background of an early Leverage story that was set around post season one and early season two. Obviously, that never got posted and probably never will, but I found this laying around the other day. I thought someone might enjoy it. It isn't my best work, but I found it amusing. Enjoy.

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><p><strong>Her better nature...<strong>

Kerry and Parker met early on in their careers, about two or three jobs in. They were hired, by two different employers, to rip-off a cache of gold in London.

They made it to the warehouse within minutes of each other and ran into each other outside.

Kerry was surprised, to say the least, but Parker had already jumped to a 'logical' conclusion. She asked Kerry if she was a leprechaun.

Appearance wise, she did fit the bill and it put her at an advantage, so Kerry went along with it.

Faking an Irish accent, she convinced Parker that someone had stolen her clan's gold and she was stealing it back.

Keep in mind they were still novice thieves and that was the _only _reason this worked; Parker was still naive enough to fall for Kerry's ploy and Kerry was still dumb enough to try it.

Together, they were able to steal the gold, get it to the docks, and say goodbye.

So, Kerry got away with the gold and by the time Parker realized she had been played, the leprechaun was long gone.

Understandably furious, Parker made sure Kerry would never live down the London incident and branded her with the moniker 'Leprechaun Thief'.

And you can bet Parker never looked at leprechauns the same way again.

**Pop goes the weasel...**

About two years after London, Kerry had made it back to the U.S. and paid a visit to New York...on business.

There was an art gallery hosting a gala, including a piece that a generously paying client wanted, but wasn't willing to aquire through legal means.

Kerry's plan _had _consisted of posing as a guard, sneaking into the vault after the gala, grabbing the piece, and getting out unnoticed.

There was just one problem...Ms. Reid.

Yes, you know who I mean. Dear, sweet Sophie, who was posing as as insurance agent sent by the company insuring the art.

Wonder where she got the idea...

And wouldn't you know it, she was after the same piece Kerry was. Place your bets now.

Just her luck, Kerry was assigned to escort 'Ms. Reid' down to the vault to oversee the gallery workers move the art to the main gallery.

Well aware of Sophie's reputation, Kerry knew she had to step up her time table or risk going back to her employer empty handed.

What followed can only be described as a very confusing two-step to nab the piece before the other _and _not get caught by the workers.

To Kerry's credit, she got it first and got away, but with Sophie following after.

Sophie was also aware of Kerry's reputation, specifically her tendency toward overconfidence and it was only a matter of time before she spied an opportunity.

Kerry had left a bag in the break room and slipped the piece inside. This is where things took a turn.

Someone spilled their coffee and Kerry slipped in the mess, dropping the bag in the process. Fortunatly, a helpful co-worker helped her up and she got out of there, only slightly embarrased.

Things were looking good... until Kerry delivered an empty back to her employer.

While she had been destracted, Sophie had grabbed the prize and made off with it.

Left in boiling water, Kerry resolved to be more vigilant.

**What goes around, comes around...**

Three years later, Kerry paid a visit to Chicago and in this case, what she was sent to steal doesn't matter... cause it wasn't there.

Someone had gotten to it first and Kerry was left in the dust.

It might have ended there, but she chose to take it personally.

Being adabtable, Kerry tended to pick up certain skills as she worked, such as computer hacking. She was no pro, but she was able to hack the security feed and identify the mystery thief.

Eliot Spencer.

That should have stopped her right there, since she was very well aware of his reputation. Sadly, pride got in the way of reason and Kerry made a big mistake.

While she wasn't a professional grifter, Kerry could run a short con rather well and that night found her in a local bar, flirting with everyone's favorite retrieval specialist.

Sure, she could have broken in his hotel room, but where's the fun in that?

Eliot was none the wiser as he took her up to his room, but the night didn't end the way he'd expected.

Kerry tied him to the bed and made off with the merchendise, kindly leaveing the tv on. A Care Bears special, that she was sure he'd enjoy, was on that night.

If only it _had_ ended there...

Eliot had taped a knife to the back of the headboard and once he cut himself free, he set to work tracking down the little leprechaun.

A computer was a useful tool, but it was no replacement for hard work and a quick mind. Not to mention, the name she'd checked into the motel with was the same alias she'd given him.

Kerry was woken up the next morning by someone tying her to the headboard. Surprise!

Eliot decided to give her a dose of her own medicine and left the tv on before he left...with the merchendise

Coming up with her a story to the the housekeeper was difficult and Kerry made a note to avoid Eliot from then on.

Turnabout was fair play, but she wouldn't be able to stomache Barney, Teletubbies, or Spongebob Squarepants ever again.

**Spiked...**

About a year later, Kerry got an opportunity to _really _put her computer skills to the test, when she dropped in on Los Angelas.

This time around, she was stealing boat designs from her employer's main competitor... hacking the company mainframe and downloading the files onto a flash drive. Easy for a pro, but challenging for someone with less skill.

Getting to the computer mainframe, easy. Hacking and downloading what she thought were the files, challenging, but she did it.

The only hiccup in getting out of the building was running into a nice young man with a laptop bag. She'd assumed he worked there.

It wasn't till later, when she was double checking the files, that Kerry found that the so-called files were actually sonnets by Shakespeare.

To make things even better, _someone _had downloaded a spike onto the company mainframe and in turn, to her flashdrive and laptop.

Her computer was a useless piece of slag by the time it was through.

Putting two and two together, Kerry realized that the 'nice young man' she'd ran into was, in fact, a known hacker by the name of Hardison and he'd obviously hit the mainframe first.

Kerry briefly considered going after him, but decided it wouldn't be worth the inevitable headache.

**Easy as pie...**

About a year after New York, Kerry had the honor of meeting our favorite insurance investigator when she stole a small statue from a museum in San Francisco and Nate was assigned to the case... poor guy.

It had come down to a foot chase and other than her ridiculously bad luck, Kerry was known for her speed and agility.

Taking to the rooftops, she navigated the city quickly and efficiently lost Nate.

For once, Kerry got away unscathed and Nate was left in the dust.

If only they were all that easy.


End file.
